Standing proudly at 170 centimeters, Angelo Jesus Lizardi might as well have been on a quest to battle Goliath as he stepped into a sumo fighting ring on a recent bright Saturday evening in the courtyard of Japan Village in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. He is a muscular wrestler, but compared to his opponent, he is also, well, small.
Lizardi, 25, and weighing about 76 kilograms, was facing off against one of his own coaches, Daniel Robert Douglas, who, at roughly 163 kg and 198 cm, towered over him.
They were there as members of the New York Sumo Club, which has brought the ancient combat sport to the city, giving its practitioners a place to test their confidence, experience a mental boost, and perhaps most importantly, find a community, Lizardi said.
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